1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic musical instrument having a form similar to that of acoustic wind instruments, and a control method including an operation method for the electronic musical instrument.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, electronic wind instruments are known which have a shape modeled after those of acoustic wind instruments such as saxophone and clarinet and use a musical performance method modeled thereafter. In a musical performance using such an electronic wind instrument, the pitch of a musical sound is specified by operating scale keys (or pitch keys) provided at respective key positions equivalent to those of acoustic wind instruments. The sound volume is controlled by the pressure (breath pressure) of a breath blown into a mouthpiece.
Also, in recent years, electronic wind instruments are known which are provided with devices such as special operation buttons and switches so as to achieve various musical performance methods, feelings of musical performance, and effects that are given to musical sounds (musical effects, such as a pitch bend to continuously change pitches and a vibrato to minutely vibrate pitches).
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Publication No. 11-085159 discloses a technique in which, in order to achieve a pitch bend, a pitch bend wheel is provided on the back side of an electronic wind instrument, and rotationally operated during a musical performance so as to control the direction of pitch change in accordance with the direction of the operation (bending up, bending down).